I’ve been trying to blog less right before a weekend — convenient time for me, less convenient for readers, but I read The Equinox Promise: An Open Letter to the Evergreen Community and felt that I should pass it along. The whole LibLime thing has been sort of upsetting both because they seemed to both totally adhere to the letter of the law [and the license] and so totally run roughshod over the spirit of the open source community. I think it’s safe to say that Koha wouldn’t be where it is now without the efforts of LibLime, but I’m a little more concerned thatn usual for where it’s going. Ever since the Evergreen Conference that I went to, where I got to hang around with a lot of really excited and capable people, I’ve been pretty jazzed about Evergreen as well. Here’s hoping…
Philadelphia Libraries Staying Open
Budget passed. Libraries are staying open.
I have mixed feelings about this “unless you pass the budget, we will close the libraries!” sort of PR move, but I have to admit that I didn’t follow this last one as closely as I have followed these things in the past. I am, as always, happy that libraries are staying open. That said, I honestly didn’t think this wouldn’t pass. I don’t want people to feel threatened to vote for things — more cops, more fire fighters, more librarians — I’d like them to vote for things because they’re a good idea. Budgets are terribly complicated and we’re all making tough choices about money. I’d like to think that we could, possibly, trust our elected representatives to stand by their words, as when the Philadelphia mayor said “We will not close facilities that serve our most vulnerable populations, such as libraries, health centers, or recreation centers.” I realize that the final decision is not his alone, but I did feel like folks had our back on this one.
what’s going on with koha and liblime
“Meanwhile, if there is high ground to be had, I doubt it is currently occupied by LibLime.”
Roy Tennant explains what’s been going on at LibLime and links to a longer post at Library Matters. LibLime’s version of this announcement, on their news feed, is not very encouraging. As someone working with a tiny library and a free version of Koha, I’m particularly disappointed in the libraries that are helping bankroll this and are not pushing for more openness in terms of release dates for code and better communication all around. Meanwhile Nicole Engard whose work I respect a lot has taken a job at Bywater Solutions. They are lucky to have her.
Good Ideas from Vermont Libraries
“The Vermont Department of Libraries has been publishing Good Ideas irregularly, beginning in 1988. Each edition includes the contributions of many public libraries. This blog was set up to continue the tradition but make it easier for librarians to search, use and print the resources.”
The book, terms of service
One of the things that’s so vexing about the ebook back and forth is the people who think that issues with ebooks are all about people being fussy about reading off of screens and the like. In fact, for me, it’s much more the availablility, DRM, licensing and other issues that make me feel that ebooks are not ready for prime time. To drive a point home, here’s Matthew Battles [of Unquiet History fame] with his notion of a Book: Terms of Service.